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1
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Great Premiership Marketing
« on: November 13, 2023, 10:15:31 AM »
Morning all. Did anyone else receive the attached email this weekend?
Classy move by the Premiership, real classy.
Classy move by the Premiership, real classy.
2
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Slightly OT: Former of this parish new owner in other sport
« on: March 03, 2023, 04:09:35 PM »3
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Well Done Premiership Rugby PR
« on: January 13, 2023, 05:02:40 PM »
Just received an email from Premiership Rugby entitled "Everything you need to know about Wasps in Europe".
I assume it'll be a short read!
Nice way to rub it in guys.
I assume it'll be a short read!
Nice way to rub it in guys.
4
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Cheat To Survive
« on: September 27, 2022, 10:45:53 AM »
Saracens CEO: “Innovation and desire push people to think differently”
Today's City AM Fluff Piece
When Saracens earned a last-second victory over Gloucester on Saturday, they did so in front of a semi-full new West Stand at their Stone X Stadium. The north London club have been one of the few looking towards expansion, modernisation and development at a time when domestic rugby in England is struggling to support itself.
Having taken over as Saracens’ chief executive early last year, Lucy Wray has been part of a group spearheading the diversification of revenue streams in Barnet. She cites a close relationship with the council, a determination not to rely on cash handouts from private equity firm CVC, a minority shareholder in the Premiership, and a resolve not to repeat the crises of the past as reasons for their ever-modernising facilities. “With every crisis there’s an opportunity. You cannot waste a crisis,” Wray told City A.M., referencing Saracens’ demotion for breaching salary cap rules. “We spent a long time looking at ourselves thinking ‘right, how can we come out of this three times stronger?’. “For us it’s not a vanity project, you’ve got to think out of the box to generate new revenue streams. “All we’re looking at now is how we get financially sustainable, you’ve got to think about required investment and annual repeatables.”
Stone X Stadium, nestled between Hendon and Finchley Central tube stations, is now home to Middlesex University students, media company Sportable and other partners. The stadium has become a form of business hub for the area – guaranteeing Saracens precious income away from fluctuating attendances of rugby matches. “We have anchor tenants like Middlesex University, who have taken a 30-year lease with us, so that is valuable,” Wray added.
“We’ve got Sportable in the East Stand and a private school use the [artificial] pitch Monday to Friday for their sports. “You’ve got to build up these income streams. We know that 15 games of rugby [a year] is not going to make us financially sustainable. “We will have 1,000 students on site, a children’s playground, and a community cafe. It’s about being commercially valuable.”
While other clubs – notably Wasps and Worcester Warriors – are struggling simply to stay afloat, Saracens seem to have found some solutions to the sport’s broken business model.
Their new W Club, which accommodates 40 people at £13,000 a head per season and offers lobsters and table service, is the latest in a line of innovations aimed at diversifying how punters in the local area spend their money.
“We really wanted to create a first in rugby,” Wray said. “We took inspiration from the Long Room at Lord’s and NFL zones. “We went out to America to look at how they do it because they treat sport as an entertainment product, which it should be.”
The W Club allows fans to watch as players walk through the tunnel and out onto the pitch, granting access to some of the biggest stars in the game. Price tag aside, it seems like an attractive prospect.
And rugby, as Wray suggests, is becoming more about the product. Jay-Z’s entertainment company Roc Nation has recently helped to revolutionise the way the United Rugby Championship markets itself, and its president Michael Yormark is one of the consortium who now have a controlling stake in Saracens.
“You’ve always got to think that there’s always someone out there doing it better than you so it is about learning and trying new things,” Wray added. “[You need to] be adventurous, have ambitions to change things because if you stay with the status quo you’re not going to grow, you’re not going to close the gap to break-even and profitability. “Roc Nation have shaken things up, they’ve come in and it is exciting. Traditionalists might not like it but we’ve got to attract a new fan base. “If we don’t do it now, we’re the ones that are going to lose out. Innovation and desire push people to think differently.”
*My reformatting to make it easier to read*
Nothing here is different to Wasps.
Stadium you don't own but lease long term - tick
Seek to diversify income with midweek revenue paying businesses - tick
Onsite cafe - damn it we built a bar
Lots of rich city types willing to pay £13k/season to stand in the tunnel - damn it, that's £500k we're not getting
Nowhere in this article does it say the real reason they are building and growing whilst we are struggling under a mountain of debt, Lucy's daddy and his former co-owning Saffa chums wrote all of Sarries' debt off and continue to bankroll unaffordable team building trips abroad (see Jamie George's interview on BBC Rugby Union Weekly pod season launch episode). I just wish those in the media writing all these "Sarries are great" stories would at least be honest about the source, it's just a bottomless pit of money model. It really wouldn't be sustainable if it was debt on the business to pay for it all.
Today's City AM Fluff Piece
When Saracens earned a last-second victory over Gloucester on Saturday, they did so in front of a semi-full new West Stand at their Stone X Stadium. The north London club have been one of the few looking towards expansion, modernisation and development at a time when domestic rugby in England is struggling to support itself.
Having taken over as Saracens’ chief executive early last year, Lucy Wray has been part of a group spearheading the diversification of revenue streams in Barnet. She cites a close relationship with the council, a determination not to rely on cash handouts from private equity firm CVC, a minority shareholder in the Premiership, and a resolve not to repeat the crises of the past as reasons for their ever-modernising facilities. “With every crisis there’s an opportunity. You cannot waste a crisis,” Wray told City A.M., referencing Saracens’ demotion for breaching salary cap rules. “We spent a long time looking at ourselves thinking ‘right, how can we come out of this three times stronger?’. “For us it’s not a vanity project, you’ve got to think out of the box to generate new revenue streams. “All we’re looking at now is how we get financially sustainable, you’ve got to think about required investment and annual repeatables.”
Stone X Stadium, nestled between Hendon and Finchley Central tube stations, is now home to Middlesex University students, media company Sportable and other partners. The stadium has become a form of business hub for the area – guaranteeing Saracens precious income away from fluctuating attendances of rugby matches. “We have anchor tenants like Middlesex University, who have taken a 30-year lease with us, so that is valuable,” Wray added.
“We’ve got Sportable in the East Stand and a private school use the [artificial] pitch Monday to Friday for their sports. “You’ve got to build up these income streams. We know that 15 games of rugby [a year] is not going to make us financially sustainable. “We will have 1,000 students on site, a children’s playground, and a community cafe. It’s about being commercially valuable.”
While other clubs – notably Wasps and Worcester Warriors – are struggling simply to stay afloat, Saracens seem to have found some solutions to the sport’s broken business model.
Their new W Club, which accommodates 40 people at £13,000 a head per season and offers lobsters and table service, is the latest in a line of innovations aimed at diversifying how punters in the local area spend their money.
“We really wanted to create a first in rugby,” Wray said. “We took inspiration from the Long Room at Lord’s and NFL zones. “We went out to America to look at how they do it because they treat sport as an entertainment product, which it should be.”
The W Club allows fans to watch as players walk through the tunnel and out onto the pitch, granting access to some of the biggest stars in the game. Price tag aside, it seems like an attractive prospect.
And rugby, as Wray suggests, is becoming more about the product. Jay-Z’s entertainment company Roc Nation has recently helped to revolutionise the way the United Rugby Championship markets itself, and its president Michael Yormark is one of the consortium who now have a controlling stake in Saracens.
“You’ve always got to think that there’s always someone out there doing it better than you so it is about learning and trying new things,” Wray added. “[You need to] be adventurous, have ambitions to change things because if you stay with the status quo you’re not going to grow, you’re not going to close the gap to break-even and profitability. “Roc Nation have shaken things up, they’ve come in and it is exciting. Traditionalists might not like it but we’ve got to attract a new fan base. “If we don’t do it now, we’re the ones that are going to lose out. Innovation and desire push people to think differently.”
*My reformatting to make it easier to read*
Nothing here is different to Wasps.
Stadium you don't own but lease long term - tick
Seek to diversify income with midweek revenue paying businesses - tick
Onsite cafe - damn it we built a bar
Lots of rich city types willing to pay £13k/season to stand in the tunnel - damn it, that's £500k we're not getting
Nowhere in this article does it say the real reason they are building and growing whilst we are struggling under a mountain of debt, Lucy's daddy and his former co-owning Saffa chums wrote all of Sarries' debt off and continue to bankroll unaffordable team building trips abroad (see Jamie George's interview on BBC Rugby Union Weekly pod season launch episode). I just wish those in the media writing all these "Sarries are great" stories would at least be honest about the source, it's just a bottomless pit of money model. It really wouldn't be sustainable if it was debt on the business to pay for it all.
5
Wasps Rugby Discussion / City AM Article on opening round attendance
« on: September 14, 2022, 10:50:33 AM »
From today's City AM:-
Premiership sees opening-round attendances fall to a six-season low
Matt Hardy
Premiership rugby’s opening-round attendances have fallen to a five-season low. Since the start of the 2016-17 season, and not including the pandemic-affected 2020-21 season, the percentage of seats filled by punters in England’s top division during the first round has never been lower than last weekend.
The opening round saw 59 per cent of seats occupied by supporters, down from 66 per cent for the first weekend last year and a high of 82 per cent in 2018-19. And the figure drops to 55 per cent if you exclude the two matches postponed following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
Of the six matches to take place on Saturday and Sunday, Bristol Bears’ 22,021 attendance at their 27,000-seater Ashton Gate stadium was the fullest. It saw the West Country ground at 81 per cent capacity – despite the match being delayed due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday.
At the other end of the spectrum, Sale Sharks’ Salford City Stadium – which hosted the other postponed match – was 33 per cent full, while Kingsholm was 68 per cent full to watch Gloucester’s record comeback on Sunday.
Digging further into the numbers, Sale mustered little more than 4,000 fans for their first-round victory and London Irish and Newcastle, too, failed to top the 10,000-mark.
Why is this figure important? Because it’s the required stadium capacity, under current rules, for clubs to enter the Premiership. Only two clubs – Bristol and Gloucester – exceeded that figure.
Premiership attendances hit a recent high of 82 per cent in the 2018-19 opening round, helped by the fact that the well-supported likes of Bristol, Gloucester and Harlequins played at home.
In the prior two seasons, however, and excluding matches moved to Twickenham in the opening round, the average stadium occupancy sat at 65 per cent.
So, then, the norm has been around two thirds full in recent seasons – excluding the abnormally high figure in 2018.
But with this year’s figure sitting at 55 per cent, Premiership Rugby bigwigs will no doubt be hoping to see a rise in the coming weeks. For reference, last year’s second round saw 58.3 per cent of the capacity occupied.
It’s entirely possible to point towards the cost of living crisis, the hangover from Covid-19 and fans choosing to attend less matches per year, but these numbers also point to the problem English club rugby has in marketing itself.
French rugby, on the other hand, is rolling along nicely. The Top14’s opening round saw attendances of 69 per cent but three of the sides – La Rochelle, Toulon and Bordeaux – had percentage occupancy of more than 90 per cent.
Premiership Rugby is likely to face questions if attendance numbers continue to fall, perhaps also from private investors CVC, who own a minority stake in the competition.
League chiefs have made no secret of their aim to improve its commercial appeal, with a fantasy rugby game one of the ideas thought to be in the pipeline.
But when the sport cannot fill its stadiums for the opening weekend across a number of seasons on the bounce – especially one in which football fans had no matches to attend – it suggests something could be done better.
The reality is, whether you include the postponements or not, rugby attendances in England’s top flight appear to be falling. Solutions are needed and needed quickly.
https://www.cityam.com/premiership-sees-opening-round-attendances-fall-to-a-six-season-low/
Premiership sees opening-round attendances fall to a six-season low
Matt Hardy
Premiership rugby’s opening-round attendances have fallen to a five-season low. Since the start of the 2016-17 season, and not including the pandemic-affected 2020-21 season, the percentage of seats filled by punters in England’s top division during the first round has never been lower than last weekend.
The opening round saw 59 per cent of seats occupied by supporters, down from 66 per cent for the first weekend last year and a high of 82 per cent in 2018-19. And the figure drops to 55 per cent if you exclude the two matches postponed following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
Of the six matches to take place on Saturday and Sunday, Bristol Bears’ 22,021 attendance at their 27,000-seater Ashton Gate stadium was the fullest. It saw the West Country ground at 81 per cent capacity – despite the match being delayed due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday.
At the other end of the spectrum, Sale Sharks’ Salford City Stadium – which hosted the other postponed match – was 33 per cent full, while Kingsholm was 68 per cent full to watch Gloucester’s record comeback on Sunday.
Digging further into the numbers, Sale mustered little more than 4,000 fans for their first-round victory and London Irish and Newcastle, too, failed to top the 10,000-mark.
Why is this figure important? Because it’s the required stadium capacity, under current rules, for clubs to enter the Premiership. Only two clubs – Bristol and Gloucester – exceeded that figure.
Premiership attendances hit a recent high of 82 per cent in the 2018-19 opening round, helped by the fact that the well-supported likes of Bristol, Gloucester and Harlequins played at home.
In the prior two seasons, however, and excluding matches moved to Twickenham in the opening round, the average stadium occupancy sat at 65 per cent.
So, then, the norm has been around two thirds full in recent seasons – excluding the abnormally high figure in 2018.
But with this year’s figure sitting at 55 per cent, Premiership Rugby bigwigs will no doubt be hoping to see a rise in the coming weeks. For reference, last year’s second round saw 58.3 per cent of the capacity occupied.
It’s entirely possible to point towards the cost of living crisis, the hangover from Covid-19 and fans choosing to attend less matches per year, but these numbers also point to the problem English club rugby has in marketing itself.
French rugby, on the other hand, is rolling along nicely. The Top14’s opening round saw attendances of 69 per cent but three of the sides – La Rochelle, Toulon and Bordeaux – had percentage occupancy of more than 90 per cent.
Premiership Rugby is likely to face questions if attendance numbers continue to fall, perhaps also from private investors CVC, who own a minority stake in the competition.
League chiefs have made no secret of their aim to improve its commercial appeal, with a fantasy rugby game one of the ideas thought to be in the pipeline.
But when the sport cannot fill its stadiums for the opening weekend across a number of seasons on the bounce – especially one in which football fans had no matches to attend – it suggests something could be done better.
The reality is, whether you include the postponements or not, rugby attendances in England’s top flight appear to be falling. Solutions are needed and needed quickly.
https://www.cityam.com/premiership-sees-opening-round-attendances-fall-to-a-six-season-low/
6
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Faz Price Just Went Up - RFU Interest related?
« on: July 29, 2022, 03:02:15 PM »
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/62345148
I wonder if the recent praise from RFU CEO coupled with the series win in NZ forced IRFU's hand? If Ireland have a great RWC you've got him locked in and cash in if he wants to leave. But if Ireland have a shocker.......
I wonder if the recent praise from RFU CEO coupled with the series win in NZ forced IRFU's hand? If Ireland have a great RWC you've got him locked in and cash in if he wants to leave. But if Ireland have a shocker.......
7
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Season attendance stats
« on: June 08, 2022, 11:15:25 AM »
https://www.cityam.com/average-premiership-attendances-fall-compared-to-pre-pandemic-figures/
Some basic analysis here, although ranking teams by % utilisation of stadium capacity so calling Wasps bottom in the pre-pandemic season is a real "lies, damn lies and statistics" effort. But the overall article is interesting and shows us losing 1k supporters/match on average versus pre-pandemic.
Some basic analysis here, although ranking teams by % utilisation of stadium capacity so calling Wasps bottom in the pre-pandemic season is a real "lies, damn lies and statistics" effort. But the overall article is interesting and shows us losing 1k supporters/match on average versus pre-pandemic.
8
Wasps Rugby Discussion / New Fullback Highball Training Regime?
« on: May 20, 2022, 03:17:28 PM »
I don't recall seeing this posted before:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHQHtlVWuYs&list=PLRIjnHtGua1hAYSs2KWOpzoul14q2552N&index=3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHQHtlVWuYs&list=PLRIjnHtGua1hAYSs2KWOpzoul14q2552N&index=3
10
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Sale On For Reasonably Priced Family Runaround
« on: November 12, 2021, 03:26:57 PM »
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/59259919
What happened to no approaches until January? Sanderson publicly confirms discussions are on.
What happened to no approaches until January? Sanderson publicly confirms discussions are on.
11
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Wasps' Twitter Account
« on: March 29, 2021, 11:26:53 AM »
Was trying to follow the game online and often view Wasps' Twitter page to up with he score and who is doing what (don't have a Twitter account or log on so can't interact with it, just view it from outside) and noticed the post match attempt at humour. Seems to have got a few people very upset.
Wasps posted "We're gonna need a bigger boat" in a clear Jaws reference to losing to Sharks. In isolation quite funny I thought, but should sports team Twitter operators acknowledge that fans often have sense of humour failures in the immediate aftermath of seeing their team beaten? What they want is an apology, an acknowledgement that things were not good enough etc. The responses to that tweet were less than polite.
Just wondered what others' thoughts on post beating humour are?
Wasps posted "We're gonna need a bigger boat" in a clear Jaws reference to losing to Sharks. In isolation quite funny I thought, but should sports team Twitter operators acknowledge that fans often have sense of humour failures in the immediate aftermath of seeing their team beaten? What they want is an apology, an acknowledgement that things were not good enough etc. The responses to that tweet were less than polite.
Just wondered what others' thoughts on post beating humour are?
12
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Ex of this parish now ex of all parii
« on: June 04, 2020, 04:19:00 PM »
Surprised this hasn’t been posted elsewhere
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/52877136
Aside from some dodgy arrows at the line out I was always pleased to see Tom get on to the field at AP. Wish him luck in his next endeavours.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/52877136
Aside from some dodgy arrows at the line out I was always pleased to see Tom get on to the field at AP. Wish him luck in his next endeavours.
13
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Welcome WonkyWasp
« on: February 25, 2020, 02:40:22 PM »
Just to show how friendly it is here 
14
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Round 7 Try of the Week
« on: December 30, 2019, 12:04:50 PM »
Wasps get 2 mentions
https://www.premiershiprugby.com/watch/citizen-try-of-the-week-round-7
One of them not necessarily one I'd have chosen of the 4 either!
https://www.premiershiprugby.com/watch/citizen-try-of-the-week-round-7
One of them not necessarily one I'd have chosen of the 4 either!
15
Wasps Rugby Discussion / RWC Stats
« on: September 12, 2019, 05:21:03 PM »
My favourite RWC stat so far from today's City AM, potential distance each team will travel if they make the final:-
England 3051 km
Wales 1948 km
Ireland 1755 km
Scotland 880 km
Australia 3591 km
SA 995 km
Japan 520 km
NZ 2010 km
France 3358 km
Italy 2219 km
England, Aus and France to suffer more as a result???
England 3051 km
Wales 1948 km
Ireland 1755 km
Scotland 880 km
Australia 3591 km
SA 995 km
Japan 520 km
NZ 2010 km
France 3358 km
Italy 2219 km
England, Aus and France to suffer more as a result???
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